Gustavo Petro: «Stop Defaming Me, Mr. Trump—That’s Not How You Threaten a Latin American President»

Original article: Gustavo Petro: “Deje de calumniarme señor Trump, así no se amenaza a un presidente latinoamericano”

.Gustavo Petro Responds to Trump, Rejects Accusations, and Advocates for His Legacy of Struggle, Peace, and Democracy in Colombia and Latin America

In a post on X, Colombian President Gustavo Petro addressed US President Donald Trump, stating: «It is not about whether Maduro is good or bad, or even if he is a drug trafficker. After half a century of dealing with the biggest cocaine mafias, the names Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores do not appear in Colombian judicial archives. The ones who have come to denounce are generals from the Venezuelan opposition, nothing more, seeking to undermine the popular vote.”

Petro further asserted: «The judiciary in Colombia does not belong to me; it is independent and largely managed by my opposition. If you want to know about the mafia and the commercialization of cocaine, you just need to look at Colombia’s judicial archives. Therefore, I deeply reject Trump speaking without knowledge; my name has not appeared in judicial archives concerning drug trafficking in the last 50 years, neither in the past nor in the present. Stop defaming me, Mr. Trump. This is not how you threaten a Latin American president who emerged from armed struggle and later from the fight for peace for the Colombian people. I was part of the clandestine organization that fought for democracy in Colombia against the civil dictatorship of the ‘State of Siege.’ In 1974, long before Chávez, we performed the operation to raise the sword of Bolívar again, who said he would never sheathe it until justice was served in Greater Colombia. I was part of the M19 that initiated the first peace process in contemporary Latin America. You do not read Colombia’s history, which is why you falter when you criticize us.»

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In his X post, the Colombian president also noted: «He should only meet with his officials who are experts in drug investigations in Colombia, whom I have assisted with my own inquiries as a senator from the Left of Colombia and for its people, who have suffered from the genocide of the narcos and their political allies who are also allies of the far-right in the U.S. We have lost tens of thousands of comrades in the armed and popular struggle for democracy and did not ask for invasions from you; we endured and won in peace.”

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He also indicated: «I have never burned a U.S. flag because I have read the history of the popular and labor struggles in the U.S. through the writings of Zin in Spanish. Therefore, I honor the American working class, the Black and Indigenous peoples, and those young soldiers who, alongside the Soviets, defeated Hitler. That is why I dared to speak on a street in New York in front of the United Nations building and under U.S. law, which allows those attending the UN Assembly to speak freely. I spoke out against the genocide in Gaza and how I would have liked to collaborate in making peace there, where Palestinians wish me well. Perhaps, instead of capturing a Latin American president with small controls over oil—because you blocked Venezuela’s oil and condemned the people to hunger, triggering the exodus that reached your own country—you could have made a different choice. Because of what I said, you took the arrogance to punish my opinion; your punishment is to falsely label me as a drug trafficker and to claim that I have cocaine factories. I do not own a car or estates abroad; my house is still under bank payment with my salary. It is unjust, and I fight against injustices.”

He also stated: “I have many friends in the U.S. who greet me in the streets and embrace me. That is why I respect the history born from the alliance between Washington and Bolívar, who exchanged gifts and were liberators more than slavers. I learned not to be a slave and reject your statements unilaterally assigning us as your dominion; we, Latin Americans, are republicans and independent, and many: revolutionaries. Do not think that Latin America is merely a nest of criminals poisoning your people; respect us and read our history. I read your history to understand you. Do not see drug traffickers where there are only genuine warriors for Democracy and Freedom.”

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